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How Does Golding Present The Conch In Lord Of The Flies

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William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is an influential novel which reveals the darkness of mankind and evil inside of all humans. Lord of the Flies is set in the early 20th century, during a time when Europe is under attack and surrounded by war. For this reason, a plane carrying a group of British schoolboys is flown away from the chaos in hopes of bringing the boys to safety. Suddenly, the airliner is mistaken for a military aircraft and taken down. After all of the pandemonium the boys soon realize that they are the only survivors. Now stranded on an unknown island, the boys must govern themselves. Soon the burning desire for power overthrows their civilized approach of leadership as a deciding factor tears the boys apart. Golding effectively uses the symbolism of the conch, the beast, and painted faces to reinforce the theme of how difficult situations reveal the demons inside of everyone. Together these symbols are applied in order to lead the reader to the suspenseful end. Golding successfully presents the conch shell as a symbol of power as the boys strive to be rescued. During the exposition of the novel Ralph and Piggy discover the conch and soon begin to understand its role on the island. Ralph shouts, “We can use this to call others. Have a meeting,[...]” (Golding 16). The conch is used to assemble the boys and make things civilized. Likewise, the conch is used to allow one person to speak at a time. The older boys are …show more content…

William Golding 's novel, Lord of the Flies integrates symbolism through the conch, the beast, and the boys painted faces. By using symbolism the author develops the plot of the novel while allowing the reader to interpret each perspective of the symbols. These allegories work together in a way that expresses the theme; rigorous situations unveil the inner beasts of all people. While difficult situations are still present in modern society, they may not result in the same outcome as previous instances but they are equally

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In Lord of The Flies by William Golding, a group of English boys find themselves stranded on an island when their plane crashes. boy named Ralph finds a conch and uses it to call all of the other boys. Without any adults they establish their own government and elect Ralph as their chief. While writing Lord of The Flies, William Golding uses symbols to illustrate a deeper meaning in things like the conch, the fire, and the beast.    

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How Does Golding Present The Conch Shell In Lord Of The Flies

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Once the book begins, Piggy quickly meets Ralph, the oldest boy on the island, and starts to collaborate with him. While in the lagoon, Piggy points out a stone shaped object that turns out to be the conch that would bring everyone together; however, Ralph does not know how to use it in an effective way. He needs Piggy’s help to show him how to blow the shell in a sonorous way to attract the attention of the group. This theme of Ralph listening to the ideas and advice of Piggy can relate to Ralph’s use of the conch shell to unify and gather the people. Later in the story, we can see how these two symbols can be intertwined in nature.

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The conch shell plays a big part in Ralph’s authority and order. His leadership skills, along with the conch by his side, is what made the other kids on the island listen and idolize him. Golding glorifies the power of Ralph and his conch shell in order to represent control, which is important to the ongoing order and regulation of the boys throughout their time on the island. Without the shell, there would be no order among the lives of the boys on the uninhabited island. In addition to Ralph promoting the power of the conch, Jack also agrees and emphasizes that in order to run a society, there must be a strong and rational set of rules that needs to be followed.

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While at the first assembly Ralph decides that it would be too chaotic for everyone to talk at once, so he helps create the “rule of the conch.” “‘And another thing. We can’t have everybody talking at once. We’ll have to have ‘Hands up’ like at school.’

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